An interim deal was reached late last night between Iran and six other nations, following a five day negotiation talk in Geneva.
At times the talks seemed like they would not reach a positive conclusion but all parties agreed to a compromise. As this agreement is only an interim deal, it will only be in effect for 6 months which will have to be readdressed at a later date if necessary.
The specifics of the arrangement are still vague, although a few details have surfaced.
The United States has agreed to lift certain sanctions from a number of industries such as petrochemical, commodities and the auto industry amounting to $6 to $7 billion, which will certainly provide a boost to the Iranian economy. However these fiscal chains will only be lifted if Iran complies with certain rules.
Nuclear Monitoring
The Iranians have agreed to submit to inspections, which will be conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, of all nuclear projects to reassure the world population that chemical weapons are not being produced.
In addition, Iranian diplomats have confirmed that they will no longer enrich uranium past 5%. They have also agreed to dilute all existing uranium that is enriched beyond the 5% limit.
Both sides of the agreement seemed to be comfortable with the conclusion, US President Obama said, “Today, diplomacy opened up a new path toward a world that is more secure, a future in which we can verify that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and that it cannot build a nuclear weapon.” He continued, “Now is not the time to move forward on new sanctions, because doing so would derail this promising first step, alienate us from our allies, and risk unravelling the coalition that enabled our sanctions to be enforced in the first place.”
In addition, both parties feel this has great implications for the future of Iranian relations with the west. The Iranian foreign Minister, Javad Zarid, spoke after the agreement had been reached expressing this sentiment.
He said, “I hope the outcome of this process in addition to the resolution of the nuclear issue, will be to take concrete steps in the restoration of confidence, particularly the confidence of the Iranian people towards the west.”
The United States President also reiterated the sentiment, “Today, we have a real opportunity to achieve a comprehensive, peaceful settlement, and I believe we must test it.”
Negative Reaction
However, not everyone is happy about this new treaty. Long-time allies of the US, Israel, spoke out about and publicly denounced this agreement.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, expressed that he felt this agreement would prove to be a grave mistake.